For Mikal Gonzales, getting back into musical theater has not been like riding a bike.

"I was never stage frightened until our first rehearsal," the Sharon man said of preparations for "Songs For a New World," which opens Friday at Oakland Center for the Arts in Youngstown.

Gonzales said he didn't think it would be as difficult as it has been learning his role and relearning stage movement.

"I didn't think it was going to be this hard getting back into it," he said.

Gonzales, 34, went to college to study musical theater -- he earned a bachelor's degree in vocal performance at the University of Houston -- but abandoned theater when he took a management job with Wal-Mart.

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